Today at BlackBerry Live, CEO Thorsten Heins announced BBM will soon
be available on Android and iOS. The messaging app will launch globally
this summer. iPhone and Android users will gain access to mobile giant BlackBerry's popular
messaging service BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for the first time this summer,
the company has announced. This is a huge move for BlackBerry as it brings BB10′s
strongest feature to literally hundreds of millions of potential users.
“It is a state of confidence,” Heins explained. “The BB10 platform is so strong and the response has been so good that the time is right for BBM to become an independent mobile messaging platform.”
The app will be free on both Android and iOS. Much like other messaging apps, it will be a standalone application. iOS 6 or Ice Cream Sandwich will be required.
Initially, only messaging and group features will be available. But Heins promised that the rest of BBM will eventually make its way to the Android and iOS versions including screen sharing, BBM voice and the just-announced BBM channels.
We are making the BBM platform more powerful than ever”, Heins proudly stated. And with this very uncharacteristic move from BlackBerry, it’s hard to argue against his statement.
It’s clear BlackBerry is finally waking up. They are no longer the big dog in the mobile war. If they are to survive, the company needs to forge new relationships and learn to work well with the two reigning platforms. This move to put BBM on Android and iOS is a big step forward. BlackBerry might actually have a chance.
“It is a state of confidence,” Heins explained. “The BB10 platform is so strong and the response has been so good that the time is right for BBM to become an independent mobile messaging platform.”
The app will be free on both Android and iOS. Much like other messaging apps, it will be a standalone application. iOS 6 or Ice Cream Sandwich will be required.
Initially, only messaging and group features will be available. But Heins promised that the rest of BBM will eventually make its way to the Android and iOS versions including screen sharing, BBM voice and the just-announced BBM channels.
We are making the BBM platform more powerful than ever”, Heins proudly stated. And with this very uncharacteristic move from BlackBerry, it’s hard to argue against his statement.
It’s clear BlackBerry is finally waking up. They are no longer the big dog in the mobile war. If they are to survive, the company needs to forge new relationships and learn to work well with the two reigning platforms. This move to put BBM on Android and iOS is a big step forward. BlackBerry might actually have a chance.
More than 51 million BlackBerry
users communicate daily via BBM, one of the earliest mobile chat tools to give
users a free and private means of staying in touch over the internet.
Andrew Bocking, an Executive Vice
President at BlackBerry said in a blog post: "For BlackBerry, messaging
and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is
definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service.
"BBM has always been one of
the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily
connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We’re excited to
offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community."
BBM will compete with other free
messaging services already available to smartphone users running the iOS and
Android operating systems, including WhatsApp and Viber.
The necessity of a personal PIN to
use BBM, supplied with BlackBerry's phones and shared only with contacts with
whom users wish to communicate, is one of BlackBerry smartphones' most
attractive aspects.
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